By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
This Saturday spring practice has just concluded along the banks of Lake Michigan and now, as Pat Fitzgerald saunters over for his traditional interview, countless 'Cats meander to the sideline and join family-and-friends who have dropped by to watch. But behind them a small group remains and soon enough its members, who comprise the team's Leadership Council, huddle for a meeting that will last close to a quarter-hour.
Three weeks ago, after another practice, running back Justin Jackson talked of "Going into every single day knowing it's as important as it really is. I really want us to focus on that and I think if we do that, we'll reach our potential."
That is what two of those council members are asked about now, after the adjournment of their meeting.
"We actually just talked about everything matters. Everything matters," says defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster. "Show up on time. Go to nutrition at the right time. You listen to the coach, you take coaching. You don't goof off in the weight room. Every little detail matters and, when you add all those up? Big Ten championship."
"Everything matters," echoes quarterback Clayton Thorson. "Every day matters. Preparation matters. You see, now that I've gone through it a few years - and the same with Lanny—you see what it takes to play in the Big Ten, to now play nine games. The resiliency."
"Coming in as a freshman," Lancaster concludes, "you go to workouts and you work hard, you do your best, then after you leave, it'd be your won time. But if you want to succeed at this level? Nutrition, recovery, lifting, all of that matters."
The sun shined on Saturday, and the 'Cats practiced outdoors for the first time since they regathered after spring break. Various combinations were tested in simulated game situations, and coaching was done and lessons were taught and certainly some observations were made. Who will replace Anthony Walker Jr. at middle linebacker? Who will succeed Austin Carr as Thorson's go-to guy? Who will populate the ever-so-important offensive line? Answers to these questions and others were not firmly answered here. Here, said Fitzgerald, "Everybody's just making reservations for starting roles. Those'll get defined the closer we get to the opener.
"At this time of the year, are roles clearly defined? Absolutely not. Spring ball, we try to put our inside guys outside; outside guys inside; guys on the left to the right; move 'em around; Sam (linebacker) plays Will (linebacker), Will plays Sam; make it hard on them mentality so they can learn conceptually and we can try and create that competitive depth you hear me talk about all the time."
So here he is not asked about personnel. He is instead asked about that observation of Jackson, asked if this group of 'Cats understands the importance of every single day?
"The team's not there yet. And if they were there right now, I'd wonder if we're peaking too soon," he says. "A big part of it is I don't know the freshman class enough yet. But, no, we're not there yet. Do I see leadership from Justin and the other guys? Yeah. We're improving there. But I think that's really hard, man. I think that might be the hardest thing for you guys, the student reporters, this age group. Understanding that, man, the sand's running out of the hourglass, and the urgency and the focus and the discipline necessary Are they making mistakes and doing things wrong every once in awhile? Yeah. That's OK. That's good for growth. We're maturing. We're growing. We've got some young redshirt freshmen, you see today they're totally different guys than they were week one of spring ball. So we're gaining on it. But this next phase after spring ball (ends next Saturday) is so critically important for them."
So, Thorson and Lancaster are soon asked, how do they as leaders assure that the team's growth continues during that next phase?
"I think offensively, and I know defensively as well, we've got guys who've gone through it three or four years," says Thorson. "For me, being the quarterback the last two years, going on my third year starting, I know what we need to do in the off-season in order to be successful in the fall. I know things that haven't worked, and I know things that do work. So we're going to continue to build camaraderie. The weekends are so important for us to grow as a team. You would never think that Saturday afternoon is a time we could come together as a whole team. Other places guys go off their own separate ways. We come together, have a barbecue, things like that. Just little things that really do matter."
"It could be anything," adds Lancaster. "The D-line has D-line dinners on Thursday nights. There're open get-togethers. We'll put it in the group text, an open invite to the team."
And how about that sense of urgency their coach referenced?
"High," says Thorson. "We saw going into Ohio State that we could play with the best of them. We're capable of it. We also saw we lost some games we shouldn't have. We've got to play at a high level every week because we're capable of it. Not because we know we have to because of the opponent. We've got to do it because we know we're capable of it. So, yeah. The urgency's high. We realize, like Lanny's been saying, we know what we need to do to get to that point. We've just got to keep doing it."
"And on a smaller level, as a D-line, we've lost over the past two years a few really good guys," concludes Lancaster. "Dean (Lowry) and Deonte (Gibson) and Ifeadi (Odenigbo) and C.J. (Robbins). Now we've got a lot of young guys. This offseason honestly has been the most impressive to me on how hard this D-line has worked, and how much we've put in extra. That's the sense of urgency we have and I feel this is the best we've ever done at this point in spring ball. The sense of urgency is definitely up in our room, and I know it's radiating throughout the team."
Optimism reigned last September with the 'Cats coming off a 10-win season. But then, in their new season's first month, they fell to Western Michigan by a point and to Illinois State by two and—after a victory over Duke—to Nebraska by 11. They would eventually resurrect themselves, and qualify for the post-season at 6-6, and punctuate their year with an exclamation point by toppling No. 23 Pitt in the Pinstripe Bowl. Still. Was that start a lesson learned?
"When we came out of the bowl game, guys were salty," said Fitzgerald. "We put ourselves in a hole because of us. Other teams played well against us too, I don't ever want to discredit our opponents. We slowly figured it out. Too slow. I think we're much further ahead mentally from that standpoint, attitude-wise, than we were a year ago at this time."
"First of all it showed us we don't walk on water," Thorson adds. "Any team on any given Saturday can win, and we've got to come out and—something Coach Fitz is always talking about—we've got to start fast. Whether it's starting the season fast, or the offseason, or starting a game, starting a practice, starting a workout. That's something we've really been working on, and then consistency down the stretch. We won a few, lost a couple we thought we should have won. We've just got to push through those times."
"Coming off a 10-win season, I felt we were sort of OK with that and we were gliding through, thinking, 'We're good. We're a 10-win team,'" Lancaster then concludes. "Then obviously, showing up the next season, that's not the case.
"Everything matters. Now we're pushing it. We're zero-zero, and we want to go undefeated, and we've been pushing our butts accordingly."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
This Saturday spring practice has just concluded along the banks of Lake Michigan and now, as Pat Fitzgerald saunters over for his traditional interview, countless 'Cats meander to the sideline and join family-and-friends who have dropped by to watch. But behind them a small group remains and soon enough its members, who comprise the team's Leadership Council, huddle for a meeting that will last close to a quarter-hour.
Three weeks ago, after another practice, running back Justin Jackson talked of "Going into every single day knowing it's as important as it really is. I really want us to focus on that and I think if we do that, we'll reach our potential."
That is what two of those council members are asked about now, after the adjournment of their meeting.
"We actually just talked about everything matters. Everything matters," says defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster. "Show up on time. Go to nutrition at the right time. You listen to the coach, you take coaching. You don't goof off in the weight room. Every little detail matters and, when you add all those up? Big Ten championship."
"Everything matters," echoes quarterback Clayton Thorson. "Every day matters. Preparation matters. You see, now that I've gone through it a few years - and the same with Lanny—you see what it takes to play in the Big Ten, to now play nine games. The resiliency."
"Coming in as a freshman," Lancaster concludes, "you go to workouts and you work hard, you do your best, then after you leave, it'd be your won time. But if you want to succeed at this level? Nutrition, recovery, lifting, all of that matters."
••••••
The sun shined on Saturday, and the 'Cats practiced outdoors for the first time since they regathered after spring break. Various combinations were tested in simulated game situations, and coaching was done and lessons were taught and certainly some observations were made. Who will replace Anthony Walker Jr. at middle linebacker? Who will succeed Austin Carr as Thorson's go-to guy? Who will populate the ever-so-important offensive line? Answers to these questions and others were not firmly answered here. Here, said Fitzgerald, "Everybody's just making reservations for starting roles. Those'll get defined the closer we get to the opener.
"At this time of the year, are roles clearly defined? Absolutely not. Spring ball, we try to put our inside guys outside; outside guys inside; guys on the left to the right; move 'em around; Sam (linebacker) plays Will (linebacker), Will plays Sam; make it hard on them mentality so they can learn conceptually and we can try and create that competitive depth you hear me talk about all the time."
So here he is not asked about personnel. He is instead asked about that observation of Jackson, asked if this group of 'Cats understands the importance of every single day?
"The team's not there yet. And if they were there right now, I'd wonder if we're peaking too soon," he says. "A big part of it is I don't know the freshman class enough yet. But, no, we're not there yet. Do I see leadership from Justin and the other guys? Yeah. We're improving there. But I think that's really hard, man. I think that might be the hardest thing for you guys, the student reporters, this age group. Understanding that, man, the sand's running out of the hourglass, and the urgency and the focus and the discipline necessary Are they making mistakes and doing things wrong every once in awhile? Yeah. That's OK. That's good for growth. We're maturing. We're growing. We've got some young redshirt freshmen, you see today they're totally different guys than they were week one of spring ball. So we're gaining on it. But this next phase after spring ball (ends next Saturday) is so critically important for them."
So, Thorson and Lancaster are soon asked, how do they as leaders assure that the team's growth continues during that next phase?
"I think offensively, and I know defensively as well, we've got guys who've gone through it three or four years," says Thorson. "For me, being the quarterback the last two years, going on my third year starting, I know what we need to do in the off-season in order to be successful in the fall. I know things that haven't worked, and I know things that do work. So we're going to continue to build camaraderie. The weekends are so important for us to grow as a team. You would never think that Saturday afternoon is a time we could come together as a whole team. Other places guys go off their own separate ways. We come together, have a barbecue, things like that. Just little things that really do matter."
"It could be anything," adds Lancaster. "The D-line has D-line dinners on Thursday nights. There're open get-togethers. We'll put it in the group text, an open invite to the team."
And how about that sense of urgency their coach referenced?
"High," says Thorson. "We saw going into Ohio State that we could play with the best of them. We're capable of it. We also saw we lost some games we shouldn't have. We've got to play at a high level every week because we're capable of it. Not because we know we have to because of the opponent. We've got to do it because we know we're capable of it. So, yeah. The urgency's high. We realize, like Lanny's been saying, we know what we need to do to get to that point. We've just got to keep doing it."
"And on a smaller level, as a D-line, we've lost over the past two years a few really good guys," concludes Lancaster. "Dean (Lowry) and Deonte (Gibson) and Ifeadi (Odenigbo) and C.J. (Robbins). Now we've got a lot of young guys. This offseason honestly has been the most impressive to me on how hard this D-line has worked, and how much we've put in extra. That's the sense of urgency we have and I feel this is the best we've ever done at this point in spring ball. The sense of urgency is definitely up in our room, and I know it's radiating throughout the team."
••••••
Optimism reigned last September with the 'Cats coming off a 10-win season. But then, in their new season's first month, they fell to Western Michigan by a point and to Illinois State by two and—after a victory over Duke—to Nebraska by 11. They would eventually resurrect themselves, and qualify for the post-season at 6-6, and punctuate their year with an exclamation point by toppling No. 23 Pitt in the Pinstripe Bowl. Still. Was that start a lesson learned?
"When we came out of the bowl game, guys were salty," said Fitzgerald. "We put ourselves in a hole because of us. Other teams played well against us too, I don't ever want to discredit our opponents. We slowly figured it out. Too slow. I think we're much further ahead mentally from that standpoint, attitude-wise, than we were a year ago at this time."
"First of all it showed us we don't walk on water," Thorson adds. "Any team on any given Saturday can win, and we've got to come out and—something Coach Fitz is always talking about—we've got to start fast. Whether it's starting the season fast, or the offseason, or starting a game, starting a practice, starting a workout. That's something we've really been working on, and then consistency down the stretch. We won a few, lost a couple we thought we should have won. We've just got to push through those times."
"Coming off a 10-win season, I felt we were sort of OK with that and we were gliding through, thinking, 'We're good. We're a 10-win team,'" Lancaster then concludes. "Then obviously, showing up the next season, that's not the case.
"Everything matters. Now we're pushing it. We're zero-zero, and we want to go undefeated, and we've been pushing our butts accordingly."